If you live in Canada or USA, you likely have heard of Ticketmaster - a large company that sells Entertainment / Concert tickets
This review is not a positive one
This post is rather detailed and lengthy. I certainly do not expect you to read it in full - I made this post for those that are looking for more information regarding personal problems with Ticketmaster
To sum up this post, if you have problems with Ticketmaster and require a refund or are looking for some form of reimbursement like a voucher, I doubt it will happen.
The customer service with Ticketmaster is non-existent and I much prefer using StubHub which I highly recommend as a better alternative.
The rest of the post is about my last experience with Ticketmaster which has left with me a sour taste in my mouth.
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So the following email I sent to Ticketmaster will tell you what the situation was
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First off, I don't think Ticketmaster lives up to their customer service promise of
"No Refunds or Exchanges. But if something comes up closer to the event and you can't make it, we'll do everything we can to help" - This is their exact quote on their website link here
Word of advise to Ticketmaster: if you have no intention to live up to your promises, do not put it in writing in the first place
Considering that the only highway leading up to the venue at Casino Rama was COMPLETELY closed by OPP (Police), they would be able to see that hardly anyone would have showed up for the show since most people going to Casino Rama do not live in the nearby deserted vicinity and require Highway 400 to get there. A white out condition and the Ontario Provincial Police closing down the large stretch of highway is something that "came up closer to the event" last minute and I felt that Ticketmaster should have lived up to their promise of "if something comes up closer to the event and you can't make it, we'll do everything we can to help"
I realize Ticketmaster stated they do not offer a full refund or exchange, but couldn't they at least reimburse me with a credit for a future show/concert? So I decided to give Ticketmaster a phone call about this.
The awful service I got from Ticketmaster over the phone was the last straw with this company (especially after they took a full week to answer my initial email).
I really feel Ticketmaster customer service is a scam because after calling their number a few times and speaking unsuccessfully to two different representatives, my phone calls were routed to a totally different answering machine that is a much longer wait time (I hung up after waiting 20 minutes). It was only when I decided to block my phone number that I got the "original" Ticketmaster customer service phone line which led to my call being answered within 10 minutes. Like seriously, WTF! Why did I get routed to a different phone system after speaking to a couple of representatives and why did I have to block my phone number to get back to the original customer service line?!
So, after blocking my phone number to get through to Ticketmaster customer service a third time, I finally was able to speak to a "supervisor" although I have a feeling that it was just another agent really...one that is more catty. The supervisor gave some ridiculous excuse about the event being over and how it's too late and we have to contact the promoter. It's quite clear that the promoters have nothing to do with this and even the Casino won't deal with it - it clearly says on the website to contact Ticketmaster only for any of the entertainment issues.
I can't believe Casino Rama puts up with Ticketmaster as their sole venue partner and won't compensate patrons. Patrons attending Casino Rama concerts provide revenue to the casino. So personally I feel Casino Rama should take partial responsibility in making sure their customers are satisfied - but they don't. So anyways, since the Ticketmaster supervisor on the phone kept stating that the event was over and because the event is over there is nothing to be done. I asked her, "well what did you want me to do? Call you while on the highway while the highway was closed down to let you know I can't attend the event in an hour's time?" You know, you're not allowed to talk on the phone here while you're driving - it's a law provincial law. I asked her anyways what difference it would have made if we pulled over the car and called Ticketmaster while stuck on a closed highway. She could not give me a proper answer. The supervisor was really rude and losing her patience with me because she knew how stupid her reasoning was (and at the same time I guess she was pissed that my questions and inquiries were both legitimate and reasonable). I told her I would complain online and that there are a lot of boards complaining about ticketmaster. She said, "fine" and pretty much hung up.
Anyways until this problem happened to me, I did not realize the vast number of people who have had problems with Ticketmaster - just run a quick search and you'll see websites listed here, here and here...etc...
Note that Ticketmaster also owns another site called TicketsNow which has also has numerous complaints
My family was quite disappointed with how the situation was handled.
I also told Dale about all this and Dale told me he also had problems with Ticketmaster before. Now he only uses Stubhub to buy tickets to events/shows/games whenever possible - and he's right. All the tickets to sporting events we have been to, he bought reliably through Stubhub
So from here on in I'll just do as Dale does and use Stubhub....while Ticketmaster will only be used as a last resort (if even)
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